In addition to the $11 billion appropriated by Congress, the IRS takes
in more than $400 million in user fees and may allocate that money as
it sees fit. In 2014, the IRS allocated $183 million in user fees to its
customer service budget, but allocated just $49 million in 2015--a 76
percent cut.
Commissioner Koskinen will appear before the House Ways and Means
Committee this morning, one week after the federal tax filing deadline,
and he can expect to be asked why the IRS cut its own customer service
budget and continues to spend money on other questionable activities.
The report notes that Koskinen reinstated bonuses weeks after his
appointment, has allowed IRS employees to spend roughly 500,000 work
hours on union activities, and failed to collect delinquent taxes owed
by federal employees. The tax agency has also been strained by
Obamacare. According to the report, the IRS has spent "over $1.2 billion
on the President’s health care law to date, with a planned expenditure
this year of an additional $500 million. More here...